Can I veer off for a moment here? [I mean, that’s kind of my thing, not being able to finish a sentence without at least one other tangentially-related sentence inside it.] Okay, so I get a lot of cooking ideas from restaurants I go to and I jot them down but it’s not because I want to do anything sinister like pretend I came up with them first, but because I want to do something with the impression it made on me. It’s like going to a museum and admiring the soft colors in a painting and realizing you want to soften the palette in your own artwork; nobody is going to mistake you for Monet any more than anyone is going to mistake me for Beyoncé if I buy thigh-high tights and wear them as pants. (They’re more likely, in fact, beg me to never do this again.) People have said to me, “Why don’t you just ask the chef for their recipe?” or “But this recipe is published! Don’t you want to make their version?” but I actually don’t for two reasons. First, I want to stay true to what I remembered about it, even if it might have been incorrect, because it was my impression that got me daydreaming about a new flavor combination or approach to an ingredient. Second, holy moly, are chef recipes usually a headache! For restaurant purposes, this makes a ton of sense (each element prepared separately before service so it can be assembled and cooked to order) but to cook like this at home — at dinnertime no less, when everyone is hungry — is madness and a short path to being so exhausted you might need a week of takeout to recover.

Which begs the question: why make a new, more complicated version of something we were happy with to begin with? In this case it’s because every time I’ve been back to a restaurant that served it, I’ve fallen again in love with how nuanced it is. Plus, I now see its potential to be a rounded meal by making it less restaurant-style (precious and plated) and more homestyle, in a way we’d all want to dig into on a weekday night. In fact, I hope this is your dinner tonight.

Spiced Roasted Carrots with Avocado and Yogurt

On origin: As I mentioned, this recipe has made the rounds at big-name restaurants and from big-name chefs. (Jamie Oliver, who I think was once a silent partner at Spotted Pig, also has a version. Also, if anyone who follows restaurants obsessively wants to tell me how it made the jump from the Jean-Georges to the Spotted Pig camp, I’m curious!) Everyone agrees on 90% of the ingredients — carrots, avocado, sour cream, something crunchy, cumin and citrus — but nobody agrees on how to cook the carrots and other smaller details. This version: Is all and none of the above; you’ll use yogurt instead of sour cream and there will be no segmenting of oranges on a Tuesday night. That’s a rule. Almost everything comes together on one big messy tray of dinner — sheet pans 4eva!

Finally, I was champing at the bit to make a spring-ier riff on this with asparagus instead of carrots (but my carrot-loving husband begged to differ). Don’t you think asparagus would be amazing with cumin, coriander, thyme and citrus? With asparagus, everything will go much faster as you’ll probably have it nicely roasted in the 15 to 25 minute range, no foil lid or water in the pan needed. Do it!

I made about a 2/3 to 3/4 size of this on a 10×15 tray but you should use a full half-sheet pan (13×18) or two quarter-sheet (9×13) pans for the yield below.

For the carrots

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and cooled if you have the patience, ground will work here as well

1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and cooled if you have the patience, ground will work here as well

Make your spice paste by either pounding the cumin, coriander, thyme, salt and peppers in a mortar and pestle until roughly ground, using an electric spice grinder (i.e. a coffee grinder you don’t mind smelling like spices) or small food processor to do the same, or, if using ground spices, just combining them in the bottom of the large bowl you’re about to use. In the bottom of a very large bowl, combine prepared spices, salt and pepper, garlic, vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil and whisk to blend. Add carrots and toss to coat.

Spread carrots, drizzling with any extra marinade, in prepared pans and cover tightly with foil. Roast for 25 minutes covered then remove the foil and roast for 35 minutes more, until the carrots are lightly browned and tender but not falling apart.

Meanwhile, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, orange and lemon juices in a small dish with salt and pepper. When carrots are done, scatter with avocado and sprouts then drizzle with this citrus dressing all over. Dollop yogurt over the top and sprinkle with seeds. Dig in.

Oooooh I’ve actually made this one before…..with carrots, and with fava beans too! The contrast between crispy skin and melty creamy potato-y (does that make sense? Sounds like a french fry….) inside…..mmmm….

Did you know that if the pods are young, you can skip the shelling and eat them after baking? Then you can say I’m not being lazy, I’m getting more fiber :)

And just to be nosy, were you at Ikea for something specific? Or just to buy Kalles Kaviar?

Do you have any suggestions for serving this (i.e. bulking it up with some hearty grains or a side of potatoes)? It looks delicious, but there is no way a pan of roasted carrots is dinner in my house, even on a meatless Monday, no matter how much avocado I top it with.

Angela Liddon also has a similar recipe in her Oh She Glow cookbook, and I absolutely love it. I can’t wait to try your version, as well :) I can only imagine the level of insanity brought to the table by the avocado and orange.

Carrots — These are grocery store organic carrots, by the way. Didn’t see any great ones at the market.

Jamie — Sprinkle it with crispy quinoa?

Ikea — God help us, we’re going to try an Ikea hack a friend saw on Pinterest and we saw at our friend’s to make a wall-mounted desk for Jacob. I was also hoping to find some of the awesome gorgeous window boxes I stupidly only bought one of last year (it hangs nicely on our balcony railing) but no dice. We tend to have the situation in Ikea that other people do in Target, walking out with way more than we came there for, but mostly stayed on list, which is too bad for Anna who is enraged by her new straightjacket-style bib. :)

Beth — Thanks. He’s an awesome big brother. There are still adjustments, but they are not directed at his sister, who thinks he’s the most magical Short Grownup ever.

I was looking for some dinner inspiration – we have hit a rut – this looks great and I have (almost) all the ingredients. I am planning on subbing chopped almonds, because that’s what I have in the house…

Looks delicious! I love the first version of the carrot/avocado salad, so I’m definitely planning to try this. Like Jamie said above though, any other suggestions for adding protein? Do you think it would work to add fish or chicken to the sheet pan and cook all together?

It’s been five years since the Serious Eats take on this recipe was published on Food52 (http://food52.com/recipes/15021-carrot-avocado-salad) — five years that I’ve been thinking about how good it looks and how much I’d like to eat it, five years of looking at that miles-long list of ingredients and making something else instead. It’s unreal how much more approachable this recipe is!

this looks amazing! I’m trying to look for meals that include components I can give to my daughter, who is just turning 6 months old and starting to nosh a little on solid foods. So I’m trying to incorporate lots of sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, etc., into our grown up meals so I can share with her. This is a double hit! I think it would go really well with some nice roasted chicken thighs (my husband insists on meat, like Jamie’s family!)

Also, my journalism major heart is so happy you said champing at the bit instead of chomping. It always makes me happy to see that one used correctly.

What I love about blogs in general and yours in particular is how they budge us out of our ruts. I eat carrots, avocadoes and yogurt several times a week but not together and not with the carrots roasred…AND cold. Thank you for inserting some variety into my life!

I love what you said about wanting to taking the impressions of a dish and utilizing it in your own kitchen. And I’d also like to point out that chefs do that to each other’s dishes all the time, as you can see here. I’ve seen it happen in the kitchens I work in a lot- taking something memorable from another chef and distilling it through their own lens. It’s fascinating and fun. Anyway, this looks fantastic. I’ll have to make your own version soon, or perhaps my own.

Angela — It’s in the first step, you’re going to pour it in the empty pan. (Doing so over the seasoned carrots would wash off the seasoning. The water steams the carrots at first, which helps them get soft before roasting. I find straight dry roasting of carrots doesn’t work well — rubbery centers, usually.)

Kate — The general rule is 1 teaspoon seeds to 1 teaspoon ground for these, but honestly, I’d just use the same amount. I don’t find the different in yield that notable, maybe because the seeds are less packed and make a fluffier ground spice (they’re coarsely ground here).

This recipe made my day. I loved the way the ABC Kitchen version on Food52 turned out but have been deterred from making it again because it was so fussy and didn’t seem worth it for “just” a salad. Thanks for finding a way to make this that doesn’t require roasting citrus fruit or using a blender! Yes!!!

While I’m sure this’ll be great with carrots, and I look forward to trying it like that, I’m even more jazzed about the asparagus idea: SPRINGTIME ROASTING, OH YEAH. And thanks for the thoughts on recipe inspiration; that anxiety of influence is one that I know I think about a lot, so it’s nice to hear your thoughts.

Deb, this looks lovely, and I bet it’s really tasty. What I most want to laud here, though, is how classy you are. Even more then your reliably delicious and approachable recipes, your authentic voice and ability to remain above the fray are what keep me coming back to your blog. Thanks.

Well, I don’t have 3 full pounds of carrots on hand at the moment, but I do have everything else, plus enough extra asparagus (purchased for the asparagus frittata) to make up for the carrot shortage. A version of this is definitely going to be dinner tomorrow. I think I’ll toss some chickpeas on the sheet pan to get some of that protein others have been looking for!

merrimack — Not sure why you think only compliments are published here. However, the Guidelines plea is for helpful criticism: “Have you tried it? Did the recipe work for you? What changes did you make, or would you make next time? Have any suggestions for others who want to try the recipe but might need that last push?… comments that help me answer the “should I bother making this?” question are invaluable to me, and I’d hope others.”

The was an intelligent an quite enjoyable post apart from the first word. How sad you began with an object pronoun instead of “I”. We like what you write- but please try not to get too “down home”. We like you for your cooking…but you need to sound informed and not uneducated.

I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazingly delicious! The roasted carrots (using the partial “steam” method) were unbelievably buttery and flavorful. Even my husband who loves his meat agreed that this could actually be a main course dinner. It felt hearty and rich. We ended up slicing the carrots into chunky pieces and tossing them with the avocado, greens and dressing in a salad bowl for ease of serving. Def a recipe I will make again!

Thanks to Deb (obviously) and Tariqata for both the merguez and chickpea suggestions for additional protein! Was also wondering how to bulk it out a bit and those are both great ideas. Trying this this weekend hopefully.

If I had only looked at the photos without reading the text I would have guessed that this recipe was inspired by Ottolenghi. My husband will love this for the carrots, while I adore avocado. Everyone will be happy.

I made the original Jamie Oliver recipe too. I didn’t like how mushy the carrots turned out, so I just started doing the carrots my own way and messing with the dressing. It’s one of my favorite flavor combos.

Hi Deb! I made this last night and it was fabulous. I actually added aspargus to the pan after the carrots roasted for quite a bit. I much prefered the carrots to the asparagus (I wouldn’t add them again) because of the sweetness of the carrots that that the asapargus didn’t have. The sweetness paired with the sour tangy dressing and smooth cool yogurt was a perfect combo- the asparagus really didn’t seem to belong.

For dinner – tonight! I hadn’t even gotten the carrots in the oven before my kind of on the picky side 13 yr old said “omg mom that smells delicious! What is that??!” Thanks for what’s sure to be a yummy dinner – very much appreciate you’re sharing your creative genius!

Made it! Loved it! Can’t believe I had everything on hand, save the sprouts! And my pepitas are tamari roasted….but oh well. Thankfully, I have a really peppery arugula already popping up in the garden so I subbed that for the sprouts. Oh, and I added 2 parsnip because they were looking sad and orphaned in the bin. My 5 year old felt very involved manning the mortar/pestile while I whipped up the rest. Super easy! I will double recipe next time…use with some lunchtime quinoa bowls. Thank you for a lovely dinner tonight!

Amazing. I just licked my plate. Seriously. I had no coriander, but added smoked paprika instead. (Very different flavors, I know, but it was still delicious.) And I forgot to toast the sesame seeds, or even buy the sprouts. Still the best dinner I’ve even in a long while.

Can’t wait to try this tonight! I realize that the version you riffed off of had sour cream instead of yogurt. I have all of the ingredients in my fridge to make the sour cream version, so I’m going to give it a try tonight! Thanks for the recipe, Deb!

This was a huge success, far better than such a simple ingredient list and method has any right to be. I made a couple of changes based on the contents of my fridge, throwing some asparagus in with the carrots near the end, replacing sour cream with marscapone, orange juice with grapefruit, and thyme with a mix of rosemary and oregano. It didn’t feel lacking in anything, and I can’t wait to make it for my vegan sister with some vegan cashew cream. Genuinely one of the most exciting, interesting things I’ve eaten in ages, and it blew my husband’s mind.

When you mention that you want to recreate the recipe from the impression it left on you at the restaurant, this is exactly how my mother cooked when I grew up. She would have a dish at a restaurant that she enjoyed, then would come home and recreate it. Not always was it a success, but as a child, I didn’t know any different. Now, when she comes to visit me I make her cook the whole time she is visiting. She is able to look into my refrigerator and create recipes out of the scraps of leftovers and other ingredients she sees. A truly good mom and home cook should be able to do that! Thank you for sharing and allowing me to have this fond memory.

I made this last night using carrots and broccoli because I found myself desperate for a side dish to go with grilled chicken and to use up a bunch of broccoli and carrots before they went bad. I really liked the flavor of the spices, especially with the broccoli. We will definitely have it again, but I don’t think I’ll bother with the dressing and the yogurt because the veggies were delicious without out it.

Are those parsnips in with the carrots? I don’t think I have ever seen carrots that size or color. I do. however, love parsnips and would gladly mix them in! Or use instead of carrots even, as an earlier commenter mentioned. Parsnips are SO underrated, and one of the nicest, sweetest, things to put into a winter veggie roast combo. Definitely doing this one- love all the glorious reviews ( already!!!) seems that you hit a nerve here Deb, and not for the first time.

P.S. Saw the white bean and red pepper goodie in the e-mail.THAT one is inspired as well I might add- served it at my daughter’s wedding and got great reviews! It is a “sleeper” looks almost too easy, but it is fabulous!

I made this with asparagus last night and it was delicious! My boyfriend isn’t the biggest asparagus fan so he always prefers when there’s lots of other flavours going on, so this was a hit with him. Avocado added to anything always makes dishes better, in my opinion. :)

I made these and they were great! I think next time I’ll reduce the amount of thyme and orange juice though. To “bulk it up”, as they say, I made some crisped chickpeas à la Deb and put those on top too.

The only problem I had was that once I took off the foil, all of the liquids/spices started to burn, which tarnished the bottoms of the carrots and set my fire alarm off a few times (sorry neighbours). Any suggestions to fix this, Deb? Did I miss something? Perhaps a bit more water?

Long time lurker – love the blog. Moved to post what I think is my first comment in many years by the negative comments above. To jan dash – please don’t take it upon yourself to patronise and insult the author on my behalf by using the word “we” in your comment. And as for Deb “needing” to sound anything at all – well, it’s her blog and if you don’t like her style, go read something that does accord with your tedious notions of “informed and not uneducated” writing. And perhaps consider proof reading your own comments from time to time. Jeez.

Anyway, made the confetti biscuits yesterday with my girls which were a huge hit and a definite keeper. Going to try this one out today as it looks absolutely delicious.

:) :) :) :)
This is delicious! Thanks for the recipe and the unique inspiration! One note – I had a little burnage of the extra marinade that I poured over the carrots. Nothing too bad since the carrots didn’t pick it up much. I think next time I will be careful about adding too much back.

Uh, I’m new to this so…
I just want to know that I’m understanding correctly what you meant. So I take a oven proof pan and pour water in it and then IN it I put spices carrot covered in foil. So sort of like a shallow bath?
Or am I getting it horribly wrong?

We enjoyed this so much! What I esp. loved is that the final flavor was completely unexpected; nothing like any of the individual parts (but/and so very delicious). We served it on a bed of arugula (b/c I mislike sprouts a LOT), but otherwise followed the recipe (even used tricolor carrots – fun!). Another home run – thanks Deb!

I made this tonight and the flavors were really wonderful! It tasted great, looked very festive on a plate and the house smelled amazing for hours afterwards ;-) . The only thing that didn’t go as planned is the tenderizing of the carrots. At the 25 minutes-mark I was ready to remove the foil, but the carrots still seemed pretty hard/raw. I added a bit of extra water and gave the carrots an extra coating of olive oil and left them to bake covered for 10 min. extra. Then removed the foil and let them bake as usual. Still we found them still a bit too raw. I’m going to tweak this because this recipe is worth it! It is that good. Thanks Deb.

I made a grilled version of this because my oven isn’t working. Parboiled the carrots, put them in the marinade (and ended up leaving them there overnight). Next day, made the dressing, threw the carrots on the grill until they had a bit of char but were tender enough to stick a fork in. Put them on a bed of arugula, poured over the dressing, topped with avocado and yogurt. Delicious! Even my husband who is usually meh on carrots loved it. Making it again for a potluck this weekend.

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I made this with old ground spices, and no avocado or sprouts, and it still was amazingly good. My husband does not normally like cooked carrots at all, and he inhaled half the sheet pan. I will make this again and again.

Deb, This. Is. Amazing. Had a dinner party last night and debuted this beauty. One of my guests even photographed it at the dinner table before we dug into it. To be honest, instagramming food pics usually annoys me, but having it done to my own cooking was rather charming! Lovely and delicious to boot. Thanks for another winner!

I made this two nights in a row because it was SO AMAZING. I used toasted sesame seeds. I did a pan of asparagus too. And I added radishes! I would eat this every week. It was actually easy too. and the finishes are divine and so necessary. LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe.

Super delicious and lots of fun to dab, dollop, and sprinkle things on at the end. :) I used a mix of fat carrots, fat parsnips, and small Yukon gold potatoes because that’s what I had on hand. I think the carrots were the best but everything worked well – I just took the potatoes out about 10 minutes before everything else because they were done first, then put them back on the tray when it came out of the oven.

I’m not quite sure what to expect here, but I like everything involved, so I want to try it!

One question, though: the presentation feels awkward to me (though quite pretty!) — would you put the pan right on the table and have everyone serve a few pieces of each thing, or cut the carrots up and mix this up with the yogurt?

Wow. This one is a keeper. It is one of the most exciting and nuanced vegetarian dishes I’ve made in a long time. Thanks for posting delicious, sustainable recipes like this one. My wife and I do eat meat, but try to limit it. I can’t promote this recipe enough. If you are on the fence, stop wasting time and COOK THE F’ING THING! btw, as for the seeds, I used the pumpkin variety and I roasted them in the oven for a bit. It was awesome. #carrotheaven

This was a big hit at dinner tonight. One of my guests was vegan and the store I went to didn’t have any dairy-free yogurt, so I ended up with tahini sauce instead, and I have to say that it was a perfect match with the flavors in the roasting spices. I think that I’d just go right for the tahini sauce again, even without the vegan guest!

Did exactly as the recipe says and was amazing!! I never loved carrots. I’ve never eaten so much carrots in one meal.
I only did half portion for everything, but a little more avocado and yogurt than prescribed because they are two of my favorite things, and it worked well for me.

Made this today after staring at the recipe for months – it is SO delicious. Only had about 1.5 lbs of carrots, so I threw half a cauliflower in there, which was just as tasty. I think this is going to be a mainstay in my kitchen. And really easy!

Follow-up on that question, I am planning to make this for Easter supper with my extended family and need a more transportable serving method so I can make it ahead… any ideas? I’m thinking of maybe chopping the carrots on a bias in larger chunks and serving in a bowl… add toppings just before serving? Open to suggestions!

I made this last night and it was EXCELLENT. I made crispy quinoa and it added a great crunch. I also mixed come cayenne pepper into the Greek yogurt, which was great. I will definitely be making this again soon.

I made this the other night with slender carrots (32 in 3lb) and I can tell you that the charred tail end of the carrot at the edge of the pan was the apotheosis of carrot preparations. Yes, I just used apotheosis and carrot in the same sentence.

I was ravenous and ate 13 carrots straight off the pan without any toppings. It was like eating french fries. Soft, bendy, orange french fries, with some brown on the undersides. As an Indian I’m used to cumin+coriander seasoning, but the addition of thyme changes the game entirely. The remaining 19 carrots made for two dinners. I can now add carrots to the list of vegetables that I can eat a pound of in one go and call it dinner. (Since you are dying to know: broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, green beans.) Btw, did you really mean for 3lb carrots to be 4 servings for normal people? The original recipe says 1lb serves 4.

Anyway, to get to the point. (Yes, there actually is one.) This recipe is a great example of what you do so well. I’ve made the previous version of this in past years, because I loved the simplicity of it. But I stopped gradually because the carrots, to use your adjective above, get “rubbery”. So it’s great to see you go back to it and figure out the solution (water, cover with foil), add further tweaks (thyme, toppings) and just take it to a different plane. I can’t speak for your other readers, but your analness (yeah), or persistence, if you prefer, is at least as much a draw for me as your unflagging enthusiasm. Long may it last!

My sister made this for me last summer and I loved it, so when I wanted to use up some carrots, I thought this needed revisiting. I made this for dinner and I didn’t follow the ratio of ingredients, just guessed on everything. It was still amazing. It also is very easy to make- the long list of ingredients is intimidating but it’s pretty forgivable if you don’t follow it to a T. I didn’t have any salad greens, but ate with just the avocado and yogurt. Made it a summer meal (along with lots of ice-cream after).

so, originally i had bought nice greens-on bunched carrots fresh at whole foods, but i ended up eating them and really had wanted to get the multi-color ones for this dish. when i returned the next time, neither the farmstand outside nor the store had tricolor ones…except in bags. so i bought a bag. i scrubbed them, but did not peel them as outlined in the recipe. i made the vinaigrette with spices i ground fresh, including the black pepper. omg, it smelled like heaven. i also made the lemon tahini yogurt from another of your recipes as suggested and that was delicious.

however, i had to throw out the carrots. they had an intense bitter, chemical taste that intensified to the point of being inedible as they sat. i’m not rating the recipe as i think the recipe itself will be perfect if i try again with the right carrots. i’m just writing this so others know to buy fresh and not bagged carrots, and that depending where they get them they might also want to peel them. i’ve been doing some reading online and found that a.) older carrots can be bitter or even have the taste of dish soap and b.) bitterness is concentrated in carrot peels, especially when cooked.

i’m sure if you can get beautiful little ones like those pictured in the post it’ll be awesome, but when you can’t, proceed with caution :)

Made this and it won the monthly “Iron Chef” contest between a big group of friends. They couldn’t believe carrots ended up being the winning dish! Went with lemon + lime juice because I didn’t have any oranges, turns out all citrus really does work :) And all dried herbs, am sure the longer way makes a difference, but delicious regardless!

This is a great way to use up a CSA’s carrot bounty. My family of six (the under the age of 6) ate this as a meal with whole wheat olive bread. We ate it at room temp and loved it, it seems like a great dish for a pot luck.

Hi Deb! I made this the other night and it was so surprisingly satisfying!! Making it again tonight. But you didn’t say when to add the water to the pan? I panicked halfway through roasting when I remembered it called for water and just dumped it into the pan. All was still unbelievably delicious. But just curious – does it go in with the oil and spices?

I can’t wait to make this! I’m thinking of making it as a side for a friend’s BBQ, but wondering if you think I can roast the carrots (or at least par-cook them) the day before so that I don’t have to commandeer her oven for that long.

I made this but instead subbed the more traditional sour cream (it’s what I had!) and didn’t include the sprouts (grad school budget=no frivolous veggies). I can truly say that it was incredible. The perfect match of spice, cool dairy, citrus, and the fatty avocado to cut it all was amazing. Also, I have never had much success roasting carrots and this worked great! a+

I search your recipes at night before bed and had this one flagged to make for dinner for the next few nights. I used organic bagged orange carrots and also used 2 vs 3 lbs. I used OJ since that was all that I had (no oranges, but I did use fresh lemon) and tofutti vs the yogurt. I also substituted arugula for the sprouts and was not shy in my arugula use. I added a poached egg for more protein. This was fantastic I licked my plate (shh, don’t tell).

Dear Deb,
I’m hoping to eat more carrots and am looking for very simple carrot recipes. Do you happen to have tried Marcella Hazan’s braised carrots recipe? Is it worth the effort (potentially two pans and it sounds like lots of babying on the stove)? I’m wondering why spoon extra water into the pan instead of either covering the pan or doing it with water foil-wrapped in the oven like you have here.